The Business Leadership Podcast

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Sunshine Tenasco: So some of it is, very similar to other nationalities.

one of them is access to capital. Like, if you're living on a reserve, you can't go to the bank and get, let's say a mortgage. Like it's just, you know, cuz there's no collateral when you're living in a First Nations community. And so you're considered. Even higher risk for things like alone, the traditional methods.

you are listening to the Business Leadership Podcast with Edwin Fondozo. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening Biz leaders. Welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast. My name is Edwin Foz, and I'm your host. And on this episode, I am thrilled to feature the SOAR Accelerator. It's a groundbreaking program supporting high growth indigenous owned businesses in Canada.

Edwin Frondozo: Join us as we speak with Sunshine Tenco, the co-founder of Soar, and the inspiring founders from the inaugural cohort, cheekbone Beauty, indie City, Minnie Tepe, Sequoia, and Waki Maple. These [00:01:00] entrepreneurs share their stories, insights, and experiences with the SOAR Accelerator, empowering the indigenous economy one entrepreneur at a time.

Throughout the interviews, we'll not only learn about the remarkable journeys, But also discover how business leaders, how we can support and uplift entrepreneurs like them. The impact of mentorship, collaboration, and creating a safe and inclusive space for sharing and learning will all be explored with that.

Here we go.

Sunshine Tenasco
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Edwin Frondozo: I have Sunshine Tenasco. She's the co-creator of SOAR. Thank you for joining the Business Leadership Podcast.

Sunshine Tenasco: Thank you for having me.

Edwin Frondozo: me me

what inspired you to create SOAR and what are you hoping to achieve with the, with the initiative?

Sunshine Tenasco: Yeah, so I'm the founder of Powwow Pitch, which is an indigenous organization aimed to help helping indigenous.

Entrepreneurs [00:02:00] and I started this in 2015 and we've seen a lot of startups who are, you know, just at the beginning stages. And over the past years we've been noticing that our entrepreneurs are really growing and some of them are growing, like scaling to the next level. And. We seen that there was a gap in being able to help them with that.

And so SOAR was born just to be able to, you know, continue on that path and continue helping them in in a different way.

Edwin Frondozo: Oh, that's amazing. So with the powwow pitch, I guess for those who may be hearing about, you SOAR in the initiatives, powwow pitch is more for the startup entrepreneurs or people who are just getting started on their entrepreneurship journey.

Sunshine Tenasco: Yeah. So it wasn't designed for that, but that's what we're sort of noticing. The people who are participating are more in the startup phase and or you know, they could be 20 years you know, in, in business, [00:03:00] however, they wanna take it to the next level. And then that's where Soar Soar comes in. So this is the next level.

They've, they've graduated from, you know, grade one, we're bringing them to grade two.

Edwin Frondozo: Can you share some of these barriers that you've seen within the community and within all the entrepreneurs that you're working with when they're growing their business or scaling past these, the.

You know, these milestones?

Sunshine Tenasco: Yeah. So some of it is, you know, very similar to other you know, to other nationalities. It's, you know access to capital. It's being able to, you know, technology, all that stuff. But there are specific barriers that I. Bank are relevant to indigenous entrepreneurs and it's, you know, it's all related as well.

So one of them is access to capital. Like, if you're living on a reserve, you can't go to the bank and get, let's say a mortgage. Like it's just, you know, cuz there's no collateral when you're living in a First Nations community. And so you're considered. Even [00:04:00] higher risk for things like alone, the traditional methods.

So there are organizations in the indigenous community that are aiming to, to help that process. I think location wise as well. I think sometimes that's a barrier, meaning access to, you know, wifi, something as simple as that. Like that's a, that's an issue. But you know, again, we're moving closer to, to.

You know, being able to access those things. I also think it's worth mentioning confidence when you don't know that, that that's even an option. You know, when you don't see that in the media, in books, on screen it's just happening right now. Whereas, you know, other people have been. You know, running successful businesses for how many years.

You know, you look on, on the Dragons den, let's say, and the first panel were all Caucasian people, and then maybe toss in one woman and then, you know, so when you see someone who's of your. Nation, you're like, oh my [00:05:00] God, that's possible. That's a big deal. White people don't look at Dragons den and think like, oh my God, that's possible.

That's, that's a big deal. Cuz it's always there. It's just so accepted as normal and like, yeah I can do this cuz they do that or whatever. When you're indigenous. You don't see that as much. So it's sort of, we need to create these spaces and showcase these heroes really who, who are indigenous entrepreneurs.

So that's the idea. And also be, you know, try and support them in any way that they tell us they need support.

Edwin Frondozo: I'd love to really just touch upon,the partners that you work with. You know, I think it's with Square BDC Futurepreneur and, and others as well. How. Are you, how is or the organization working with them to really support, I guess, what you're saying and specifically when it comes to the indigenous entrepreneurs?

Sunshine Tenasco: Yeah. Our Our sponsors are just amazing and they've, they, you know, we've worked with them, some of them with Powwow pitch, [00:06:00] and now they see the value in what these entrepreneurs are doing. So they really believe in them. And the whole idea behind this accelerator is that everyone here is making 1 million ish plus a year.

And the idea is, okay, in one year, Can we get them to jump five times the amount that they are making to be able to help more indigenous businesses, employ more people to grow, to scale, and to bring their products. Everyone here is product based into the mainstream. Do you know? To see it on shelves in mainstream, that's a big deal.

That's a big step, and we're like, okay, we see the challenge. Challenge accepted. Who wants to help us, help them?

Edwin Frondozo: I know we're just in the first cohort of the SOAR Accelerator, but I'm sure as you're going through it now, sunshine, do you have any future plans and or how do you see it already, you know, evolving through some of the feedback and conversations that you're having?[00:07:00]

Sunshine Tenasco: I, I, you know, I'm really open at this point, but I already feel it's been, we met last night, we've been meeting today. I feel the tingles, I feel the power where it goes. I am very open, but you know, we're, we're rising together and that's the, that's more than I could have asked for.

Sunshine, can you share any success stories or highlights from this current cohort? Just being together being open and vulnerable. Everyone here is already a success story. Everyone here is very aware of the impact that they have on their community specifically and the indigenous community as a whole. And so I think Putting us all together is a huge success period, and everything else is just like gravy, gravy, gravy.

Edwin Frondozo: thank you Sunshine for joining us on the Business Leadership Podcast.

Sunshine Tenasco: Thank you very [00:08:00] much for having me.

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Jen Harpar
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Edwin Frondozo:

Next up I have Jen Harper from Cheekbone Beauty. Jen, welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast.

Jenn Harper: Thank you for having me. I'm I'm excited to be here.

Edwin Frondozo: Jen, I would first off love it if you could share the inspiration to Cheekbone Beauty and what got you to start the business and perhaps what's your mission?

Jenn Harper: Yeah, so I'll start with our mission and vision. That is an easy one for me to answer and a lot quicker. So our mission and vision at Cheekbone Beauty is to help every indigenous person on the planet see and feel their value in the world. Will we craft sustainable. Color cosmetics that don't end up in a landfill.

And really proud that we've been able to give so much back to community. We've become a B Corp certified company last year and how I started definitely not the traditional path into, into the beauty industry. I was actually selling seafood fish at the time when I had this crazy pop outta bed, middle of the [00:09:00] night dream native little girls covered in lip gloss, but it was at this.

Really crazy intersection of my life where I was learning about my grandparents' experience at residential school. And then I myself was on this personal healing journey. And then obviously I, there was this degree, not a satisfied or happy with the current career role or choice I had. And so after that dream, it just became like I was on this new mission to figure out how to make that lip gloss that those little neighbor.

Native girls were covered in, and I wanted to use a portion of the profits to give back. And so grateful that we finally you know, that the last six years have been spent doing that and we've been able to donate back over $300,000 back to First Nations. Communities, whether it's in kind or cash donations.

We launched our scholarship fund and in 2021 we gave out one scholarship. Last year we gave out five. We have a goal for this September to give out 10. So yeah, just so much, so much giving, but at the same time, making incredible [00:10:00] makeup that is now available in Sephora, Canada in 52 locations and 609 JC Penny locations in the United States.

Edwin Frondozo: that's amazing and congratulations. now that you're part of, the SOAR accelerator where you, you have the opportunity to work with other Indigenous founders as well.

I'd love it if you could just share your experience of, of this journey right now. And perhaps what, what are you hoping for as of an outcome through this

Jenn Harper: program? the SOAR experience has been incredible. If you think of things that are missing in, in our sort of entrepreneurial space in the indigenous community right now, tons of resources for startups.

But this next level of I've, I've said it a, I feel like a million times now, but it's easy to create a million dollar company. But to get to that next phase of the $10 million company, that's where I've now feeling the pain and the struggles and. The more that we can offer resources and insights to other indigenous entrepreneurs, to not only help our brand, but also help many brands in the future.

I [00:11:00] just love being a part of this and I think it's gonna be such an asset for the world to see the power of our indigenous communities. We are certainly a resilient people, so we certainly would make excellent entrepreneurs because of that resiliency.

Edwin Frondozo: I'd love it if you could share a piece of advice or maybe some insight for through your journey to those indigenous entrepreneurs who are either starting or looking to hit that, you know, 1 million in revenue part of their business now.

Jenn Harper: Yeah. My advice I always love giving out is really about consistency. I always say I have no great skills, like, honestly, but what I have done every day for the last seven years is I've woken up and I've done something to push cheekbone beauty forward, the brand and that's all it's has been is. And so if you don't give up on that and you do that every day, it can't fail.

Like I honestly believe there, there's no failing when you're, when you're consistently working hard on something.

Edwin Frondozo: Well, that's amazing. [00:12:00] Jen. thank you for joining us on the Business Leadership

Jenn Harper: Podcast.

Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure speaking with you.

Jolene Johnson
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Jenn Harper: Next up, we have the pleasure to have Jolene Johnson of Wabanaki Maple. Join us, Jolene, and welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast.

Jolene Johnson: Well, thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.

Edwin Frondozo: Jolene, if you could just quickly share with us what inspired you to start Waki Maple, and what is, what is the mission?

Jolene Johnson: So, you know, my, my journey began back in 2017 and I was, I was inspired by my ancestral roots being indigenous and, and. Reconnecting to my own community. I, I had a passion to start my own company and pair a couple of my passions together, which was a culinary and food industry aside, alongside with the agriculture sector, which is the maple syrup.

I had, had been Introduced to the maple syrup industry through my sister's [00:13:00] hobby farm. So loved being in, involved in that and harvesting and gathering. So when I made the decision in 2017, it, it was, it was a pretty easy one. It was a perfect fit for me. And therefore, you know, Wabanaki was born in 2018 when I launched the company's e-commerce and website.

I also started to go to market with, at Farmer's Market to introduce our product and our brand.

and, and so with Wabanaki Maple like I said, I was inspired by my ancestral roots and I wanted to share a piece of our, our, our history, our culture through our maple products.

And that's, that's where our mission is to help reconnect and share to other people in communities Globally about our, our product, our, our, sorry, our culture through our product as it's, it's been around, you know, it, it's a grassroots you know, maple syrup is known within our culture as, as, as even medicine.

It's been been used and harvested for centuries. So that's, [00:14:00] that's one of our missions. And to be able to create a sweeter day in a traditional way, so to speak.

Edwin Frondozo: That's amazing. Congratulations and, and you being part of this SOAR accelerator. I love it. If you could share, you know, so far the experience and what are you're trying to achieve through this program or through the connections that you're making today?

Today, in this week.

Jolene Johnson: Oh, it, it's been truly amazing to be a part of this and to be selected and chosen for this SOAR Accelerator program. It, it's come at a time where we it, it's a perfect timing for us. You know, soar, soar is helping to accelerate and, and, and build to Close some of those gaps for us, as in indigenous entrepreneurs and, and connecting each other, other entrepreneurs in this group with other industry leaders.

So it, it's an a absolutely amazing opportunity that I, I truly didn't expect, but I'm so thankful and grateful for, for Soar and Sunshine and, and the whole the other partners that are involved to bring this, make this happen. For us [00:15:00] at Wabanaki Mabel, you know what, what I'd love to see and take out of this is just more, more learning and more opportunity.

Obviously to grow the business globally, to meet some partners in other industries that will help support us through our, you know, sales and, and but yeah, we're, we've definitely just we just launched into the US market as of just two weeks ago, so through our e-commerce, excuse me. And so when it's pretty daunting when you, when you're starting to scale and, and not sure what, what lies ahead.

So we're fingers crossed and all good, good energies here that I think everything will definitely work out in to our advantage and, and positivity moving forward.

Edwin Frondozo: can you quickly share a piece of advice that you would give to other indigenous entrepreneurs who are starting their journey?

Jolene Johnson: Absolutely there, there's, well, there's so many pieces of advice as you learn as you go, but for, for when I started, I had no, I had no formal training [00:16:00] or background into business, so I started from scratch and trying to, you know, navigate, you know, marketing, sales, financial. And so what helped me to understand and, and navigate through some of the different Ecosystem of business was to reach out and found a, a mentor, a coach.

I have several of them now, but I think that would be one of my. Recommendations starting out is to find someone that you, you know you can, that may have other insights on, you know, helping to best practices for you to learn and grow as an entrepreneur. There's tons of different co like business accelerator and cohorts just for the beginner entrepreneur.

And I would definitely search out, seek out as many resources as you can to build your network, your suitcase of, you know, assets, so to speak. Moving forward,

Edwin Frondozo: Jolene, thank you for joining us on the Business Leadership Podcast.[00:17:00]

Jolene Johnson: Well, thank you so much.

Angel Aubichon
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Edwin Frondozo: Next up. I have Angel Abian from Indie City joining us.

Angel, thank you for joining the Business Leadership Podcast.

Angel Aubichon: Hi Edwin. Thanks for

Edwin Frondozo: having me. what inspired you to start your business and what, what is your company's mission?

Angel Aubichon: So Indie City is really about indigenizing authentic representation for fashion.

In our, in our culture, adornment is considered sacred. There's a lot of steps that go through with creating pieces. Our grandmothers are the original co-chair creators of this Turtle Island space. So just bringing those indigenizing business practice and the way that we adorn ourselves and the stories that we tell is really the inspiration behind why Indy City came to be.

Edwin Frondozo: So part of the mission for Indie City is actually creating a decolonial business practice when it comes to the fashion industry.

Angel Aubichon: I believe that strategizing around and. The [00:18:00] indigenous ways of knowing and doing and, and translating that into a modern day context and how that works for us now is really important. If we look to the teachings of our elders and the way that we used to do things, everybody had a role. We were mentored from childhood and mentored into this space where we would flourish based on how we would play as children.

So I really love thinking about that because when I was a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer. It's the whole story of, you know, designing clothes for my Barbies and putting them on the runway. And and then as I grew, I realize that there's a sacred aspect to adornment, and even with just a woman's traditional dress, there's elements to the dress that she had to earn that were useful in her life.

And so I think when it comes to earrings, the adornment of having this. Near our throat chakra in between our heart and our third eye, what it does is it draws people's attention to your face so that when you're interacting, it starts with this positive [00:19:00] conversation, this positive energy. And I believe that's part of like indigenizing business practice and especially when it's around adornment and bringing that into the workspace and communicating without having to say anything.

So I guess if I was to, for the sake of brevity indie City's mission is to indigenize the way that we adorn ourselves by bringing those old ways and juxtaposing the tradition with the contemporary.

Edwin Frondozo: you're part of the SOAR accelerator, I'd love it if you could tell us what you're hoping for and I guess what the, what scaling will mean to you and your business.

Angel Aubichon: Well, it's always been the next step is to start moving beyond the earrings and going head to toe with the looks, and then talking about all aspects of adornment in that way. So scaling is a really exciting opportunity for us to further tell our story as indigenous designers and what that means am.

Really excited to be in this [00:20:00] space and to bring in more collaborative voices as we we move forward

Edwin Frondozo: with that. I'd love it if you could just share a piece of advice that you would give other indigenous entrepreneurs who are either starting or growing their business today.

Angel Aubichon: For the ones that are starting, I would encourage them to invest in themselves and really work on balancing that medicine wheel right from the beginning.

Get into that, you know, that daily practice. Make sure that you're affirming yourself. Stand in your truth. Really focus on what your mission and your goal is. And I keep hearing this, but It's a practice that I've, I've used since I was a child, is working backwards. So dreaming the far end of the, at the far end of the, the horizon.

I guess the, the last thing that, that would be you, that you would want to accomplish, start there and work your way backwards, and then you'll figure out the steps that you need to go in between where you're starting and where you're ending. And it doesn't matter. What other [00:21:00] people are gonna say about your dream, because you know what that dream is, and as you grow, you'll be able to articulate that.

So invest in yourself.

Edwin Frondozo: That's amazing. Well, angel, thank you for joining the Business Leadership Podcast. We wish you and Alex all the luck with Indy City.

Angel Aubichon: Thank you so much, Edwin. It's been great.

Michaelee
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Angel Aubichon: Next up we have Michaela Lor of Sequoia McKayley. Welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast.

Michaelee Lazore: Thank you so much and so happy to be here.

Edwin Frondozo: Michaela, if you could.

I guess do a quick intro about who you are and what inspired you to start Sequoia.

Michaelee Lazore: Yes, definitely. So my name is McKayley, as you know, and I started Sequoia, which is a handmade bath and body company inspired by my culture. So all the products are infused with just snippets of my culture. Like it could be either inspired from our stories.

Ingredients. We [00:22:00] do a lot of like handmade soaps. We also make lotions, body mis lip balms, and each product sort of tells a story.

Edwin Frondozo: Can you talk to me about,the mission and perhaps some of the successes that your, your company is going through now?

Michaelee Lazore: Yeah, so our mission was always to try to be a trailblazer for other indigenous entrepreneurs. So back when I started, which is going on 20 years now We started with just a retail store in my community, and then soon after we opened up another relo retail location in downtown Montreal, which was a huge undertaking for myself, for a person who does not speak French.

So Once I did that, then I looked I always knew online was gonna be big for us. And starting in 2019 I started really focusing on the online channel for [00:23:00] us, and that's where I found a lot of success and grown the company now to. 12 employees plus myself. Wow. So we're at a pretty, pretty big size.

You know, thinking back to when I first originally started with just myself, it's grown beyond my expectations and I'm just really enjoying it right now and looking to go, you know, even further. So right now we're, Selling to US and Canada, so North America, basically. And now we're looking at expanding that to, to global.

Edwin Frondozo: And in your part, you're selling within other retailers now as well, right? Yeah.

Michaelee Lazore: Yep. Yeah, so we actually have quite a bit of retailers I don't even know how many, two or 300 maybe. And that's actually a big part of our sales channel as well. So I always had wholesale retailers and [00:24:00] it's always, it's gone, gone really well.

So, I would have to say like my two favorites are the online sales channel and the wholesale sales channel. And my store still exists and it's still you know, it's, it's like my first baby, so it's still there, but our focus now is on those, those online channels.

Edwin Frondozo: So you're part of the SOAR accelerator where we're speaking to you now.

So what has your experience been like and what are you hoping to achieve? From the, from from the program.

Michaelee Lazore: Yeah. Oh my God. It's been wonderful. So I have always been awed by the other four businesses that are included in this accelerator. So it is just an honor to be talking with them and, you know, asking them questions about their business and telling them about my business as well.

And you know, going forward today and tomorrow, it's like really exciting everything that's being planned for us. [00:25:00] So meeting with different buyers that. We may have never gotten the opportunity to speak with, or maybe if we had it, it would have taken, you know, months or years to even get this far.

And then also just to be giving our advice to up and coming entrepreneurs. So we did some interviews and those will be shown at the SOAR conference. That's a digital conference coming up in. September, I believe.

Edwin Frondozo: For those entrepreneurs or business leaders that are listening, what piece of advice can you share with them?

Michaelee Lazore: So my piece of advice is just a practical piece of advice that I wish I would have started earlier was, you know, to focus on growing that email list because that is what brings our customers back time and time again. And it's just like a wonderful connection to your customer that is just more personal than you know, seeing them.

In person, [00:26:00] because that can only happen, you know, so, so many times. But when you're emailing and they're on your list, if you're connected with them, you know, that's a customer for life.

Edwin Frondozo: Michaelee, we wish you all the luck as you grow and scale your business internationally, but thank you for joining us on the Business Leadership Podcast.

Michaelee Lazore: Oh, thank you so much. It was a pleasure.

Melanie Bernard
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Edwin Frondozo: We have Melanie Bernard from Mini Tipi. Now joining us, Melanie, welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast.

Melanie Bernard: Hey, thank you so much for having me.

Edwin Frondozo: Can you share with us, with the listeners what inspired you and your co-founder to start Mini Tippy and what is your company's mission?

Melanie Bernard: Yeah. So we were making baby products and we found that really great fabric that was native inspired, so, So in the business Tricia, the other co-founder is the person she's indigenous and she's the person who's in charge of the designs. And to find all the fabric, I say she's obsessed with fabrics.[00:27:00]

And then we were always gravitating around in native inspired designs. And at one point we were like, Who's the artist behind this design? Where can we buy like, more fabric that's not native inspired, but like inspired native and then there was nothing. There was nothing we could buy to make our own products.

So we decided, so kind of our mission, we decided to produce authentic indigenous textiles. So at first, Tricia designed her first. Pattern. And then we started collaborating with artists. And so we create different accessories with authentic indigenous designs and fabric. And for us it was also very important to change the narrative and to pay back or pay well artists in becoming leaders in that industry in paying them royalties.

Edwin Frondozo: So not only did you and Trisha find [00:28:00] a need or a pain or a gap within, within the industry, but now you're also empowering what it sounds like, you know, artists, creators as well within the indigenous community. Right.

Melanie Bernard: Exactly. So for us as I mentioned, it was really important to be like our main focus.

I, I think at first was really like okay, so how can we make business a business in all aspects better? So for us it was like, have our produce products made in Canada. Have eco-friendly fabric and of course, like the pivot of everything. Pay well our artists and give royalties because we know that when the, the money goes back to the artists, they invest in their communities.

And also to invest ourselves in communities by different give back different initiative we're doing. So if it's by with products or with money. So yeah, we're really trying our, our best with every angle of the business to. Maximize or optimize or, [00:29:00] but in a good way, not in a number way, just, I guess in a social way how we do business.

Edwin Frondozo: So now you're part of the SOAR accelerator. Can you share with us, what your experience so far being part of it, and maybe what is the best case outcome that you and Trisha are hoping to achieve through this program?

Melanie Bernard: Yeah, for sure. So we're so pumped to be part of this accelerator. The thing is, I don't like, maybe people talk about it a little bit less, but it's.

Starting your business is fun in all this, but it's really when you wanna really scale your business that the really crunchy part comes in. So Soar really helps you get in front of big buyers. You know, they have so many connections and for us the best outcome would be wall. To create connections with all the other four businesses that are here because just with us, we're like a powerhouse and we have a, a big [00:30:00] impact in Canada's reconciliation and also to grow five times our revenue this year.

Edwin Frondozo: So when you talk about. Connections. And what type of connections or ideal connections would you look at outside of, of obviously the, the cohort that you're working with right now, but within your, within your business?

Like, like who would be a dream connection for you and Trisha?

Melanie Bernard: Well, and you're talking about dreams and we're dreaming big. So we have that big vision for Mini Tipi and indigenous culture to so we would like to partner with a Team Canada. With the Olympics and the Yeah, well we're talking, you know, it's like now it's time to dream, dream big, and why not us?

Right. So we definitely think again that there's a lack of indigenous representation in Team Canada and on the international scene for the Canadian culture. So that would be our biggest dream to to be collaborating [00:31:00] because it's a dream and a vision bigger than us. It's something that if we were able to shift minds and mindsets just with that collaboration by incorporating indigenous designs or that would mean a lot and it would be like really loaded with sense.

I think like with Yeah, so that's, anyway, I'm like dreaming, but dreaming more about like what it would mean, you know, it would be like a big testimonial. Yeah. So that's our biggest dream.

Edwin Frondozo: Melanie, it's been a pleasure. I wish you all the luck and thank you for joining us on the Business Leadership Podcast.

Melanie Bernard: Well, thank you so much for having me. Oh my goodness.

Trisha Pitura
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Melanie Bernard: Uh, Next up we have Trisha Ura from Mini tp.

Edwin Frondozo: Trisha, welcome to the Business Leadership Podcast.

Trisha Pitura: Thank you so much for having me, Edwin. Hi.

Edwin Frondozo: What inspired you to start the business? Start mini tp.

Trisha Pitura: Well, I, I know that you kind of got a little mouthful from Melanie, my business partner, about what we, [00:32:00] what we're doing and how we started.

But really it was just honestly a hobby and an interest for me to learn how to sew in my basement. And that's how it started. I had a really a great interest in textile, but when as we were raising our kids and I was at home starting the business, it kind of just evolved and evolved and, but we always had her foot on the pedal a little bit because the priority was to raise our kids at home.

But as they got older, our, our product line shifted, and then as our youngest went to school, then we leased into a, a warehouse and then really pressed the gas on the business and went full-time and let it explode. So that's kind of where we're at right now.

Edwin Frondozo: Oh, amazing. One thing that we, we spoke about with Melanie was, and what's really interesting to me was how we could educate the non-indigenous, indigenous entrepreneurs.

And I really want to dig into that as well from your yourself and what you're seeing and how things have been changing as you launched your business and what you're seeing from your [00:33:00] customers and within the community.

Trisha Pitura: Absolutely. And I really feel like just to, just to touch on it quickly, that I am indigenous and Melanie is non-indigenous and our dynamic is so special.

I. Because I feel we have such a, an umbrella of opportunity as an indigenous woman and, and francophone living in Quebec. Like we just have access to so many opportunities and access just to teaching so many people about the culture and exactly what we're doing by using textile and collaborating with indigenous artists and really celebrating.

And I feel like in Canada right now, and a lot of our customers, there's so much interest in, in with. Open hearts and ears to really understand, listen and, and support indigenous communities, artists businesses, and just really I feel like that's our messaging and that's our feedback with, with a lot of our products that people receive, is that all of our, our textile has a message and story tell in, in the symbolism of all of our [00:34:00] designs.

And we also really promote our artists and, and compensate them well. And like that's part of our values is just ensuring that it goes full circle. You know, we employ our staff, we support artists, we support the community, and then we are always led by our values in our business. But it's really a passion project to, to make change, a change for people to be educated or people to learn or celebrate the beautiful culture of the indigenous peoples and take that art out of the museum and make it an everyday part of society.

Edwin Frondozo: So I'd love it if you could share maybe. A single piece of advice for the business leaders who are listening and maybe maybe an entrepreneur that is looking or starting or growing their business today.

Trisha Pitura: Absolutely. I just feel that as I learned to become a leader, you know, for my staff, for my community, for people watching exactly that is that I just try to like I get emotional a lot. I'll say that when I talk about business, so not business culture. [00:35:00] Me, but just like reflecting on my journey of not giving up when it's hard, you know?

Because honestly like entrepreneurship is really hard, but you, and it's not for everybody. And like, this is what my husband tells me all the time. He's like, if it was easy, Trish, everybody would be doing it. So I kind of like gets me through the, the downs, but there's so many ups and that's why. We always come back to the why.

Why are we doing this? And I think it's important for people to understand when they're starting their why, and just follow that fire that's in your heart and in your belly and just be like, this is what I wanna do. And, and just jump and do it. And then, and then just surround yourself with people who are gonna support you.

Be your biggest cheerleader. Build your network of people and ask lots of questions. And then, Don't be, don't be scared to take opportunities and show up. Like really just show up and risk. Take those risks.

Edwin Frondozo: That's amazing. Well, Tricia, I wish you and Melanie good luck in your [00:36:00] endeavors, and thank you for joining us on the Business Leadership Podcast.

Thank

Trisha Pitura: you so much.

Edwin Frondozo: That's it. Biz Leaders. Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Business Leadership Podcast. We are proud to present this special feature on the SOAR Accelerator in collaboration with Square B D C, future Premier, indigenous Lift Collective, and Entrepreneur North. For more information about our guest, sunshine Tenco, and the inspiring founders of Cheekbone Beauty, indie City, Minnie TP Sequoia, and Waki Maple, as well as the resources related to indigenous entrepreneurs and the Sorg Accelerator, please visit the business leadership.com/soar.

You can also find all the details within the show notes in the app that you're listening to right now. If you've been inspired. By any of these stories and insights, please consider following the show, rating us, and leaving a review. Your feedback not only helps [00:37:00] us improve, but it also supports us in reaching more innovative business leaders like yourself.

Stay tuned for more insightful episodes that empower your business growth and leadership journey. Until next time, strive for excellence and make every day a 100 x day.

Salli: .

Thank you for listening to the Business Leadership Podcast with Edwin Frondozo.